HOLA BIENVENIDOS A MEXICO

Monday, January 24 - After his morning bike ride, Paul started on his last phase of his remodeling project. He is installing a drawer in the location of the former table.

He started by removing the wood piece above the existing doors and replacing it with a piece of a different width.....this gives a larger area for the drawer and removes the divider between the doors.

Of course there was electric that had to be moved again.....JEESH! He then built the drawer (nice size 26” wide by 10” deep) and installed it using new slides. He then made the maple front attached it to the drawer box and put on two coats of varnish. Completed the entire job in one day! As usual, when you are concluding a project things start going together nicely and a little more easily..... “when you're done, you get good at it”  .......ha ha !!!!

While Paul was working on his project, Marsha was doing aerobics in the activity center, cooking potato soup, and then participating in line dancing class.

Tuesday, January 25 – Did you figure out what the title of this blog means…Hello and Welcome to Mexico. We took a field trip to Progreso (only one S), Mexico today with Donna & Norm Leech, our landlords and new friends.

Rio Grande River, Border patrol and the Wall. Doesn’t get much better than this for security…LOL

No wait…this is much better!

We have a dentist appointment at 10:00 o'clock for teeth cleaning and our 6-month check-up.

This dentist, Dr. de la Rosa Saenz, comes recommended by several friends familiar with Progreso, MX dentistry. The Dr. and his staff were caring and so friendly. We had good check-ups and thorough cleaning. The dentist had a few cosmetic recommendations for Paul and two crown recommendations for Marsha. Paul decided to wait on any additional dental work at this time (He's had extensive work in the past.). Marsha is going to have two crowns done for only $175/each, a mere fraction of what she would pay in the states. Now get this…we each had TWO x-rays, Marsha and regular cleaning and complete checkup and Paul a deep cleaning and complete checkup…total (drum roll please,)….$60.00. YES, both of us! Amazing!!!

We then walked among the shops enjoying some bargaining with the local salesmen and stopping several places for Margaritas. We ate at the Red Snapper, enjoying some local Mexican dishes. Of course, we had to sample additional Margaritas too!

After comparing prices for some medications, we purchased them at a drugstore that also gave us coupons for free Margaritas next door. Phew.....this shopping is tough!

Marsha, Norma and Donna…and our bartender in the background. He loves his picture taken.

We even had entertainment.

After that very strong drink, we headed to the Red Snapper for some delicious lunch. Marsha loved the hat-shaped lights.

This is a very popular bar in Pregreso. They have a pair of these pants that couples or friends can crawl and get their picture taken. We passed. Not enough Margaritas yet.

Now here is something you don’t see on too many walls back in the good ood U.S.A. Very popular in Mexico.

This was the biggest parrot we ever saw on a swing. It must have been 4 ft. tall!

This guy was amazing. He painted these small spoon with his fingers. The designs are awesome.

For some reason, Paul and Norm kept begging us to go into this place. The girls stayed strong and said…NO!

Just another stop on our Margarita tour. His guy had a super voice.

Then on our way back to the USA, we stopped at the store to get a couple bottles of adult beverages to take home.

We really enjoyed our day in Mexico with Donna & Norm and will be returning in two weeks, if not before, for Marsha's dentist appointment. Thanks friends for showing us around Progreso, MX.

We will have more pictures of our visit in the next blog.

Wednesday, January 26 - Busy, busy, busy. Started the day with Paul cleaning Norm's workshop and Marsha heading to aerobic class. Then Paul rode his bike and played some Pickleball.

We then went to a couple tire stores to price motor home tires. One thing me MUST do while in RGV is purchase new tires. It's not that they are “warn-out” but the fact that they are over five years old. Motor home tires are suppose to be replaced after five years due more to drying and cracking from sun and lack of use rather than being worn-out. It's more a safety issue then anything. Soooooo, we found a good place and price for tires and made an appointment for the first of next week.

We then did some shopping/running around at the Texas Thrift Shop for some Hawaii shirts for Friday's Luau and then headed to Pharr for..........are you ready..........................Country/Western Dance Lessons! The lessons were being held at Tropic Star Campground today from 3-5 p.m. It was GREAT! One of Paul's “MUST DO” while in RGV is to learn Texas 2-Step and other country dances. The lessons include 2-Step, Texas Waltz, Swing and Country/Western Polka. The lessons are held at three different parks on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays and last 2 hours. On Thursday, they substitute Country Cha Cha for the Country Polka. We did well and want to go a couple times a week for the next couple of weeks. With that, Paul hopes to cross-off “Learn to Dance the Texas Way” off his Bucket List.

Not to sit around, after a quick salad for supper, Marsha headed out again for Bingo!!! She's met Donna in the Activity Center at the park next to ours for the games. Paul......he sat and did nothing!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!